Persona: After Images
by Argos
Summary: A young woman dreams of a purple room and a man with a hooked nose when students from her high school begin disappearing. When asked to pursue the truth, she doesn't fully understand what he meant when she enters into the covenant of the Velvet Room.
1. Welcome to the Velvet Room

Chapter 1: The Velvet Room

* * *

"Welcome Mai, to the Velvet room," a soft silvery voice said. A young woman with auburn hair opens her eyes and sees an old man sitting at a desk in front of me; he looked like any other elderly man, except for one distinguishing feature: a long hooked nose. The room itself seemed plain enough, it resembled a classroom, but there were only two desks, she sat at one, which was stationed in the middle of the room, and he was sitting at the teacher's desk. Another odd thing was that everything in the room was a soft lavender color, except the man's suit, which was a black.

Mai opened her mouth to speak, but the man held up one hand, giving her the universal signal to hold on a moment.

"Don't worry, you're asleep safe in your room in the real world," he cooed. "This place exists between reality and the dream world."

"So I'm dreaming?"

"More or less, but that isn't what's important right now. You are going to be part of something great in the near future, you will have a clear choice in the matter, so do not feel like you're bring forced into anything. You must accept your duty of your own free will, and when you do, that is when we will meet again, are you listening?"

"Huh, of course," Mai wasn't, she was too busy taking in the purple room. For a classroom everything was bare. There were no posters, no books, no pencils, and no other desks. The only other thing that resembled a classroom was the chalk board, which was also purple, and in curvy yellow writing, the message: "Welcome to the Velvet Room" was etched on the board.


	2. Missing

**Chapter 2: Missing**

**September 7, 2010**

**

* * *

Early Morning**

"I wanna hold em' like they do in Texas please/Fold em' let em' hit me raise it baby stay with me/Love the game intuition play the cards with Spades to start/And after he's been hooked I'll play the one that's on his heart," Lady GaGa blared through the speakers of Mai's ihome. The girl under the blankets shuffled and eventually a slender hand emerged and silenced the song.

Mai sat up, stretched, and shook slumber from her eyes. She looked around her room, nothing purple in sight. There were a few bookcases covered in books, light green paint covered the walls and smiling pictures of people covered the walls, and a plethora of teddy bears strategically placed so that they can all look at one another and talk whenever she's not in the room.

After getting dressed, Mai wandered downstairs in search of food. She settled on a cup of yogurt before leaving for school. It was the beginning of September and slightly chilly. Mai wrapped herself in a cream sweater, but her legs still shook beneath her plaid skirt and stockings. Mai was beginning her senior year of high school at Aoi High.

The musings of Lady GaGa filled her ears as she walked the couple of blocks to the school's main gates. Mai noticed the leaves were beginning to change from green to a cascade of reds, yellows, and golds. The wind knocked a few leaves off the trembling branches.

"I love fall," Mai thought looking up at the trees as a soft breeze whipped through her auburn hair.

"Hey Mai," someone called from behind. Mai turned around and saw a stocky young man running towards her, his scarf trailed behind him.

"Hey Garrett, isn't it a little early to break the scarf?" she asked pulling one of the ear buds out.

Garrett laughed. "When you look _this_ good, you can wear anything, anytime."

Mai rolled her eyes as they walked the rest of the way to the school together.

Mai wasn't surprised at her home room assignment. She was assigned to homeroom 220 along with Garrett, and a few of her other friends. At Aoi High school homerooms were assigned according to class rank and G.P.A., Mai being one of the best students, was lumped together with the other intellectuals of her year.

Mai and Garrett entered the room and sat down in adjacent desks alongside the windows that overlooked the courtyard, the bell rang shortly thereafter.

Following the chime of the bell an attractive blond man wearing a mint green sweater and khaki pants entered the room.

"Welcome everyone to room 220, I am your homeroom teacher, Mr. Smith, and for those of you who are interested in English literature, I will also be the senior lit. teacher," the young man spoke, calmly and confidently before the class.

"Now I'm going to hand out your class schedules, and please remember that after today the only times we'll see each other, aside from class, is before school breaks or during an important event," he said before walking up and down each aisle and handing every student a piece of paper.

Mai noticed Mr. Smith smiled when he handed her her schedule.

"Advanced calculus eh? I was never good at math when I was in school," he chucked.

"Parent's idea, not mine. I would have rather filled it with an elective, but colleges don't like that," she replied. Mai thought there was something strange about Mr. Smith's smile, it didn't seem fake or forced like many of the teachers that she had before, his smile and happy demeanor felt genuine.

After Mr. Smith handed out the class schedules he answered any questions that the students had for him, the most popular questions were: How old are you? (26), Are you married? (Single), and what his favorite subject was in school (oddly enough, Chemistry.) The bell rang shortly after one of the girls in the back asked him why he was single, he turned red , but did not have enough time to answer the question because once the bell had rung it was as if he never existed.

* * *

**Lunchtime**

"Hey Mai, over here," Garrett shouted flailing his arms, so that Mai would see him. He made a spectacle of doing this on the first day of every school year even though they had sat at the same table right off of the entrance.

"Hey," Mai said dumping her bag on the unsurprisingly empty chair next to Garrett. Mai always wondered how he was always the first one in the cafeteria.

"So what are we doing today?" Garrett asked taking a bite of his apple after Mai sat down across from him.

"New game shop just opened in the mall, wanna head there and check it out?"

"Yeah, sure. I wonder what kind of place it is. Like, I mean, is it an arcade? Or is it a game store? Or is it a souvenir shop?" Garrett continued going on lost in his own thoughts while Mai continued to eat her sandwich.

* * *

**After School**

Mai and Garrett walked down to the bus stop after the final bell had rung. Garrett was talking about a new card game that was ravaging the middle schools, Mai wasn't listening to the conversation fully, but the bits and pieces she deciphered were something along the lines of "tarot cards, and then you use it to summon a monster from myth, it's so cool!"

After a twenty minute bus ride Mai and Garrett walked into Ashland Mall and made their way towards the mood court. The mall was set up in a star with a grand fountain in the center. The new game shop was opening next to the Crazy Burger.

"Wow," Garrett said, his mouth practically watering. Mai rolled her eyes and muttered "boys," and walked into Mythos' Dungeon.

The store was larger than Mai imagined. Beyond the front desk against the left wall were a few shooting and fighter arcade games, and along the right side of the wall were a row of monitors where various computer games were set up. Lastly, in the center was another counter with a rack of various games.

Garrett's mouth dropped, Mai wandered over to the magazine section.

"May as well let him have some fun," she thought smiling to herself as Garrett went from one end of the store to the next, seemingly forgetting she was even there.

After reading two magazines and getting halfway through a graphic novel, Mai approached Garrett who was standing next to the counter talking with the young cashier, it seemed he was debating between two video games.

"Yeah that's true, but Relic Raider has that awesome babe in it,-" Garrett said to the clerk as Mai tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, I'm going to go grab a smoothie and sit by the fountain, come find me when you're ready to go," she said, and then she was gone.

"Excuse me miss," a velvety voice called to Mai as she was walking towards the fountain. Mai turned to see an old man set up a kiosk telling fortunes.

"Care to have your fortune told? Its free," the old man said.

Mai was skeptic towards magic and fortune telling, but Garrett thoroughly enjoyed it. Mai looked back at Garrett and saw that he was still talking to the clerk, she had time.

"Sure, why not," she said, taking a sip of her smoothie.

The old man pulled out a deck of cards and shuffled them in front of her.

"I feel a great presence from you, Mai," the man said.

"How did you know my name?" Mai asked unnerved. The man placed the cards face down on the table and with one finger pointed to his head, "Psychic, remember?"

The old man drew three cards and put them face down in front of Mai.

"This is a simple reading, created by my own design. It will give you a clue of what to expect in your near future," he said smiling. "Whenever you're ready Mai, flip over the cards in any particular order.

Mai flipped them over from left to right. The first card was a man walking alongside a dog, the second was a picture of a tower being struck by lightning, and the third was a skull.

"Well, well, well, it seems you have quite the mission ahead of you," the fortune teller smiled.

Pointing to the first card he began, "This is the Fool, it represents that you will undergo a journey, whether physical, spiritual, or metaphorical is up to you to determine. This next card is the Tower, it signifies a great change and an even greater challenge coming your way, and the last is Death. Death does not represent the act of dying, but rather the end of something old and the beginning of something new," as the man read her fortune he never broke eye contact with Mai.

"Hey Mai," Garrett called, pulling her attention away from the fortune teller. "Who are you talking to?"

Mai looked where the fortune teller had been sitting and both the man, and his kiosk were gone, as if they never existed.

"Uhh," Mai stammered, dumbfounded.

"You better pull yourself together, or you're never going to make it to summer break," Garrett said before pulling out his video game to show Mai.

* * *

**Evening**

"Hey mom, I'm home," Mai called as she closed the front door.

"Hi dear, have you hear about the missing boy?" her mother called from the kitchen.

Mai's mother, was standing at the stove stirring a pot of stew with her eyes glued to the television. A photo of a young man was on the screen. He had a thin face with dark black hair and blue eyes.

"Who's that?" Mai asked, picking up one of the stray carrots from the cutting board and putting it in her mouth.

"Apparently he's been missing for a few days, his name is Edward. He's your age. Parents said he went out to a party and just never came home, its sad that things like that happen, isn't it dear?"

The one thing Mai admired about her mother was that no matter what, she always found a way to keep her warm smile.

* * *

**Late Night**

Once more Mai opened her eyes and found herself facing a purple chalkboard.

"Welcome back to the Velvet room," the man in a suit said with his inviting voice.

"Is this a dream?" Mai asked.

"Not really," the man said.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Igor, and I help those who are entered into a contract. You're on the cusp of something great my friend, but as with all things in life, you have a choice to make; whether you pursue this fool's errand or choose to remain blissfully ignorant, if completely your choice," Igor said, his eyes narrowed as if to peer deep into Mai's soul.

"You have great potential locked within your heart," he said after a few minutes of silence.

"You're talking about the missing boy right?" Mai asked, she still believed that she was having a crazy dream.

"His disappearance is but one link in a great chain that leads to far more than you could ever imagine, Mai. You already have the necessary abilities to pursue this endeavor, and I will help you along the way, all that I ask is that you think hard, and choose this fate, without duress, of your own free will.

Mai thought about the boy's family, and then about her mother. What happened if she had disappeared? Would anyone have come to find her?

"What about the police they-," Mai began before Igor interrupted her

"The police lack the necessary sight to fully see the grand picture."

"I'll do it, we have a deal. I'll find Edward, but I'm not sure how," Mai said, doubt in her voice.

"Don't worry, the path shall be made clear, but for right now, sleep, we will meet again shortly," right after the words left Igor's mouth, the world began to shift and sway until the purple room faded from sight.


	3. The Wish

**Chapter 3: The Wish**

**Wednesday, September 8, 2010**

**

* * *

Early Morning**

Mai woke up the next morning ill at ease. She replayed the dream over and over in her head; she could barely focus on eating her waffles. Several times her mother tried to catch her attention, but to no avail. Finally Mai came back to the realm of the living.

"Hey mom," she called to the other room; her mother had given up and begun reading a book in the sun room.

"Yeah Mai?"

"The boy who is missing, what school does he go to?" Mai asked, staring at her waffles.

"He goes to your school; he was supposed to be a junior. I think he was on the soccer team, why?"

"No reason mom thanks. I'll see you when I get home after school," Mai said shoving the last bit of her breakfast into her mouth before she proceeded to dash out the front door.

Mai caught Garrett by the park a block away from the high school; he was sitting on the jungle gym.

"Hey Mai, did you get enough sleep last night? You don't look well," Garret said with a frown as he jumped from his seat, landing gracefully in front of her. Today he was wearing a crimson sweater, it made his brown hair seem lighter.

"Garrett, did you know a guy named Edward? He played soccer," Mai asked, ignoring his comment.

Garrett was stunned for a minute with the abruptness of the question. "Uh, the guy that's missing right? Yeah I've seen him around. I didn't know he was missing until I saw the news bulletin last night, dude my mom was freaking out about it. She almost drove me to-."

"Think you could find anything about him during school?" Mai cut him off.

"Uh, I can try," Garret replied, thoroughly lost and confused. "You've certainly got a bug up your butt about this guy all of a sudden, what for? Did you know him?"

"No, but I had a dream about him last night," Mai said softly.

"Oh, one of those dreams huh?" Garrett laughed. "Don't worry, I'll hook you up with information regarding the man of your dreams at lunch," he finished, nudging Mai in the ribs.

* * *

**Lunchtime**

"Hey Garrett, what did you find out about Edward?" Mai asked, sliding into a chair next to Garrett, who was currently in the process of lifting his sandwich to his mouth.

"Ahh," he said in a sad tone as he put his sandwich down at the plate, Mai pretended not to notice the drip of saliva Garrett wiped off of his mouth.

"Well, Edward, or Eddie, as I'm going to call him, is your typical jock: egotistical, arrogant, and overrated."

"You just described every boy between the ages of 16 and 40," Mai responded flatly. "Did you find out anything the night he disappeared?"

"As a matter of fact I did, but I'm going to eat first and then tell you," Garrett then proceeded to eat his sandwich, much to Mai's annoyance.

"Ok so, Eddie, went to this party a few blocks away, left some time before midnight. One of his friends went to the mall with him, and said he left him at the fountain. When he tried calling him in the morning he didn't answer his phone."

Mai groaned. "That doesn't help at all."

"Why do you care?" Garrett asked.

"I, I just want to see if I can help. He has a family that's worried, you know?" Mai said collecting her backpack, and then leaving the table moments before the bell rang.

* * *

**Afternoon**

"I don't even know why I thought I could find this guy, what was I thinking? Mai thought as she sat in her history class.

"It was just some crazy dream, too much sugar before bed," she sighed.

"But, what if it wasn't _just_ a dream? What if he really does need my help?"

Mai's thoughts were interrupted by a jolt in her jean's pocket; it was a message from Garrett. It read: "Meet me today at 6 in the park; I have something that's going to make you love me."

* * *

**Early Evening**

True to his word Garrett arrived at the park a little after six, he was wearing his football armor, he approached Mai as she was sitting on the swings making a design in the dirt with her shoe.

"So why am I going to love you?" Mai asked as Garrett dumped his helmet on the ground and slumped into the swing next to her.

"Nice to see you too by the way," Garrett said pumping his legs a little bit. Mai glared at him intently.

"Ok ok, enough with the dirty look. I heard from one of the guys on the team about a rumor that's been going around lately. Apparently if you look into the fountain in the mall at midnight, you can see whatever your heart desires."

"Like the mirror in that Harry Potter book?" Mai asked interested.

"I guess so, I guess Eddie thought it would be a hoot to hang around there til midnight and check out what he really wants in life," Garrett said continuing to swing higher.

"Maybe the dumbass fell in," Garrett said, breaking the silence.

"Maybe, let's find out, what are you doing tonight?" Mai asked grinning at Garrett, who came to a sudden stop.

"Uhh, what are you thinking? I know that look- I don't like that look," Garrett said, regret pulsing through his body.

"Your brother still works as a manager at the shoe store in the mall right?" Mai asked, alreading knowing the answer with a determined glint in her eye.

* * *

**Late Night**

"Dude I can get into so much trouble for doing this," Garrett said unlocking the backdoor to the shoe store.

"We'll be fine," Mai said rolling her eyes.

"Easy for you to say, you're not the one who's going to get their ass kicked. After you m'lady," he said pushing the door open.

"Why are the pretty girls never worried? Oh that's right, it never ends badly for them, just for the poor Joe that helps them," Garrett lamented as he followed Mai inside.

The store itself was small; most of the shoes were stored on shelves on the wall with a few rows of shoes off to the side.

"We're going to get arrested for this," Garrett complained, trying to avoid a cardboard cut-out of a celebrity promoting their new line of footwear.

"We'll be fine, if two drunken idiots can waltz into the mall after hours, I think two perfectly sober honor students can do the same," Mai said opening the metal shutters, opening the store's front into the mall.

"How are we doing on time?" she asked.

"We have five minutes until midnight," Garrett said pulling out his phone.

Garrett and Mai approached the fountain as the clock chimed midnight, the soft ringing noise echoed throughout all five corridors of the mall.

"C'mon," Mai said dragging Garrett over to the fountain. Mai pulled a coin out of her pocked and made a wish to see her heart's desire, closed her eyes tight, and then flung it into the water.

The clock stopped ringing and nothing had happened.

Garrett put his hand on Mai's shoulder. "C'mon Mai, it doesn't look like anything's going to happen."

Mai brushed him off and remembered what Igor had told her: "' You have a choice to make; whether you pursue this fool's errand or choose to remain blissfully ignorant.""

_"I want to help, I want to find Eddie,"_ Mai said in her mind. Her fists clenched.

"Eddie where are you?" Mai shouted, her voiced echoed throughout the corridor.

"Damn it Mai, get a grip," Garrett said trying to pull her away, but she stood her ground.

Mai stared at the fountain, and then it happened. The water stopped running and the pedestal holding Persephone and Cupid rose upwards under the light of the moon, and in its place was a spiraling staircase.

"No frigging way," Garrett stammered. Mai gripped his arm.

"Let's go," she said dragging him down the stairs.


	4. The Club at the Bottom of a Well

**Chapter 4: The Club at the Bottom of a Well**

Mai and Garrett emerged at the bottom of the spiral staircase to find themselves in some sort of club. Loud music was playing in the background as droves of people were dancing and drinking. The club had cinder block walls, like any basement establishment would have. There were pictures of various models, both men and women plastered along the walls.

"What the hell kind of place is this?" Garrett asked, almost getting a tray of mixed drinks dumped on top of him by a stumbling waitress.

"This doesn't feel right," Mai said, taking a look around. She felt ill at ease, her gut was telling her something was terribly wrong, and also that Edward was close by.

"No, really? This isn't right?" Garrett asked sarcastically making a wide flourish with his arms.

"Let's look around and see if we can find him," Mai said leaving Garrett behind and disappearing into the crowd.

Mai didn't recognize anyone in the strange club, and no one seemed to pay her any mind, even when she walked directly into the dancing patrons. Everyone had a vacant stare; Mai thought that they were all high on some sort of drug.

Mai pushed and shoved her way to the crowded bar; no one paid her any mind, not even the bartender, which was fine with her seeing as she was underage anyway.

"Eddie, where are you?" Mai thought as she slumped down on a bar stool.

"Mai, I think we should get out of here. All these freaks are high or drunk or something. I kept asking them where we were and how they got here, but they blatantly ignored me, it was as if I wasn't even here," Garrett said from behind.

Mai spun around on the stool and looked at the crowded club. "Eddies here, I can feel it."

"Well then where the hell is he? And what do you mean you '_feel it'_? You didn't even know this clown existed until you saw him on the news; he may as well have been a mosquito. No wait, I take that back, at least you notice a mosquito when it bites you," Garrett said bitterly.

Mai was slightly hurt, but she knew he was right. Mai looked around the room once more and fear gripped her.

"Garrett, where did we come in from?" she asked, her head darting all around the room for the staircase that led back to the mall.

Garrett's head spun around the room and then he cursed. "Where'd the stairs go? This is just too frigging creepy for me," he said in a higher than normal tone of voice.

"Calm down, we'll find a way out of -," Mai started, but was interrupted. The crowd died down and the music stopped. Everyone was paying attention to the stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for Edward Ingraham," a male voice boomed through the club.

Mai could feel Garrett's eyes on her.

The red curtains, which Mai could have sworn weren't there a few moments ago, parted revealing a tall muscular young man with shaggy dirty blond hair. He lifted the microphone to his mouth and spoke.

"Hey everyone, how are you doing tonight? As many of you may know tonight is Open Mic Night at the club. Today I'd like to talk to you about myself. I am seventeen years old, I am a junior in high school, oh yeah, and I love to get down and party," Eddie thrust the microphone towards the crowd, which roared at the last bit.

"We're all here because we love to party right? Well, we're also all here because we want to know what we truly desire, right? Well, how about we play a little game of true or false to start with. True or false, I love soccer," Eddie moved around the stage with the presence of a rock star.

"True," Garrett shouted from behind Mai.

Eddie made a noise like a buzzer. "Ooh, sorry my man, false. Here's another one for ya," he moved to the side of the stage closest to Mai and Garrett

"True or false, my parents forced me to play soccer," Eddie said staring at Garret deadly serious.

"False," another voice shouted from the crowd. Mai searched for the source of the voice, as did Eddie.

"Ooh, sorry buddy, wrong answer yet again," Eddie said with the same emphasis.

"You're wrong," a voice in the crowd said, it was a boy's voice.

"Oh am I? Well then, please come up here and enlighten me," he taunted.

Mai put the voice to the body as he pushed his way through the crowd; it was another Eddie, or someone who looked a lot like him.

The second crowd Eddie climbed the stairs to the stage and confronted stage Eddie. The two looked identical, but the stage Eddie had an aura of greater confidence.

"Oh please you only play soccer because mommy and daddy want you to," stage Eddie mocked. Everyone in the club was watching the two Eddies.

"That's not true," other Eddie said.

"What the hells going on?" Garrett whispered into Mai's ear, she was at a loss for words.

"Yes it is. Deep down, you hate soccer. You hate getting up every morning to go to the gym, you hate running until your lungs feel like they're going to burst, and you hate all of the other members of your team," stage Eddie said sharply.

"That's not true; you don't know a thing about me. The only similarity between the two of us is that you stole my face," crowd Eddie said.

"Ooh, but you're wrong. I know you better than you know yourself. The only benefit of being on the soccer team is that you have a lean, muscular body. But that's not the _only_ thing that you like. You love the way that the girls look at you, and you toy with their emotions knowing full-well they don't stand a chance with you. True or false Eddie, you would love to get down and dirty on the soccer field with one of the guys than spend one hour with one of the girls that would throw themselves at him?" stage Eddie taunted.

"False, it's false, you don't know a damn thing about me," crowd Eddie bellowed.

"Aww sorry buddy, but you need to stop lying to yourself. You wish you were me. I'm confident, and I know what I like," Mai could have sworn the stage Eddie shot a wink at her, but she dismissed it immediately.

"That's not true, you're nothing like me," Eddie yelled at himself.

The stage Eddie make another buzzer noise, "Wrong again bucko, I am you whether you like it or not."

"No," Eddie said in a low voice, "No, you're not me," he shouted.

Stage Eddie laughed, "Wrong answer." A high pitched cackle erupted from stage Eddie as the air around him began to fold and distort. The clothes melted off of the taunting Eddie as he grew in size, soon he was as thick and covered in muscles, a mask appeared and completely covered his face. The monster screeched at Eddie who had collapsed on the stage.

"I am a shadow, the true self, I shall devour you and become whole," the monster growled as it approached Eddie.

Before Mai knew what she was doing she was running full speed towards the stage, she could barely hear Garrett call her over the cheering of the crowd.

"I won't let you hurt him," she shouted throwing herself in front of the unconscious Eddie.

"Fine, you'll be the first to die," Shadow Eddie roared. It charged at Mai with its fist pulled back.

"_I'm going to die, this is it,"_ Mai said to herself. She closed her eyes, stood her ground and waited for the attack. Instead of the blinding pain she expected, she heard the monster scream in confusion.

"Mai, what are you…" Garrett shouted over the crowd, which had died down considerably.

Mai opened her eyes and a flash of light engulfed the room. Igor's words came back to her once more: "You have great potential locked within your heart," he had told her. Mai felt something ready to burst forth from within her chest.

"Is this what he meant?" Mai said as the light dimmed.

_"I can do this, I have to,"_ Mai told herself.

"You're going down," Mai shouted.

She felt the surge of energy release from her chest and a gentle voice spoke to her.

"Thou art I, and I am thou, from the sea of thy soul I hath emerged, I am Artemis mistress of the hunt, and I shall gladly fight by your side."

Mai opened her eyes and saw an ethereal image of a woman dressed as an Amazon blocked Shadow Eddie's attack with her shield.

"You're not going to hurt Eddie," Mai shouted with conviction.

The ethereal version of Artemis pushed the shadow away with her shield and then hurled her javelin into the monster. It emitted a terrible scream before it collapsed onto the ground, once again it resembled Eddie.

Mai slumped to the ground exhausted as the ethereal image vanished.

Eddie, the real Eddie, stirred.

"Ugh damn it, you're right, you ass," he said sitting up. Eddie looked at his shadow, which pulled itself onto an elbow.

"There is a part of me that wishes I were you, wishes I had the courage to be like you, but I'm not entirely you, and you aren't entirely me," Eddie approached his other self.

"We are alike," Eddie said, outstretching a hand to his other self and pulling him onto his feet. The shadow Eddie smiled and in a flash of light he too vanished, as did the club. When the light was gone Garrett, Eddie, and Mai were standing at the fountain in the mall.

"What. Was. That," Garrett asked his gaze shifting from Mai, currently on her knees, and Eddie who also looked exhausted.

"Ugh can we talk about it in the morning?" Mai asked, she was still on her knees. She felt that could sleep on the floor.

Eddie began to walk away.

"You're welcome," Mai called as Garrett helped her stand up.

"I didn't ask for your help," Eddie said softly,and then he proceeded to leave.

"What an ass," Garrett concluded.

Mai laughed. "Agreed."


	5. The Next Victim

AN: Hello readers! if any...I'm feeling a little unmotivated right now, a few reviews might be what I need to pound out a few new chapters...ideas are running a little short

AN2: Meh..spelling errors, damn spell check...

* * *

**Chapter 5 The Next Victim**

**Thursday September 11, 2010

* * *

**

"Welcome back to the Velvet Room Mai," Igor said softly.

Mai blinked and rubbed her eyes.

"I guess this isn't just a dream," she said.

"Nothing is ever _just_ anything. There is some meaning to be found in almost everything," a crisp male voice said from behind.

Mai turned around and realized that for the first time she was not alone with Igor. Mai saw a tall man with platinum hair staring out of the windows looking longingly at the moon.

"Oh? You've never noticed my assistant before?" Igor asked, noticing Mai's sudden realization that they weren't alone.

"No, I guess not," she said turning around to face Igor. "What happened last night?" she asked.

"Artemis answered your call, you wanted to save the boy from that shadow right?" Igor said simply.

"But, what next?" she asked.

"That is for you to decide my friend, I am only here to act as a guide from time to time," Igor said folding his hands on his lap.

"Well, is there anything helpful you can tell me?" Mai asked.

"Make friends, the links that you form will help you along the way and give you the sight needed to see the truth of what is happening in the world around you," Igor said.

"You hold so much power within your heart, you just need the proper catalysts to release the bonds that hold it tight," Igor's assistant muttered walking towards his master.

"I see," Mai said and the Velvet Room began to fade away, and she returned to sleep.

* * *

**Early Morning**

Mai woke the next morning still exhausted from the events of the previous night. Thankfully she was able to sneak back into her house before anyone realized she was gone. Mai let out a groan before she dragged her body out of bed and prepared for the day.

Garrett met Mai halfway at the park, as was their usual routine.

"So what the hell happened last night?" he said.

"Good morning to you too," Mai yawned.

"No seriously, what was that?" Garrett asked as they began walking.

"I don't know, but Eddie's back safe and sound."

"Yeah, I guess. All's well that ends well right?" Garrett said stopping, but Mai didn't notice.

* * *

**Lunchtime**

Mai met Garrett as their usual table when the lunch bell rang.

"Soccer starts next week, are you going to play this year?" Garrett asked stuffing an apple in his mouth.

"I'm not sure, I haven't decided," Mai said staring at her salad. She was hungry, but she didn't feel like eating.

"What's eating you?' Garrett asked when he realized Mai was completely ignoring him when he was explaining the new videogame that was coming out.

"I dunno, I guess the whole thing with Eddie last night," Mai said looking up from her plate. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Eddie standing in the doorway to the cafeteria.

"I'll be right back," she said to Garrett as she rushed over to Eddie.

Eddie walked away and into an empty classroom when he knew Mai was following him. He closed the door and leant against the teacher's desk.

"So," he started.

"You're welcome," Mai said.

"Wasn't going to say thank you," Eddie said, avoiding eye-contact.

"About last night-"Mai began.

"Shut up. I wanted to ask you something, how long were you in the club?" Eddie asked.

The question caught Mai off guard, "Uh, I guess maybe little over a half hour?"

"Did you notice the time when we were back in the mall?"

"No, I didn't," Mai confessed, wondering where this line of questioning was headed.

"Well I did, it was one minute past midnight," Eddie said.

"That's impossible, but wait, back up. How did you end up there anyway?" Mai asked.

Eddie was silent for a moment. "Someone pushed me," he finally said.

"Pushed you? Pushed you where?" she asked.

"Into the fountain, when I came to I was in that whacked out club, and then you showed up."

"You realize you were missing for a few days?" Mai asked.

"Nope, but the police let me know about it when they came to my house this morning wanting to know where I was, I told them that I crashed at some girl's house, it was easy to find someone to corroborate the story with," Eddie replied looking away from Mai.

"And why are you telling me this?" Mai asked. "What does this have to do with anything? And what happened last night?" The questions came naturally.

Eddie laughed, "Hell if I know, I could ask you the same thing. How did you make that shadow girl appear?"

Mai didn't realize he was conscious for that part. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. I saw what happened. You did something and it beat that monster," luckily for Mai the bell rang.

"Ooh sorry, but that'll have to wait for another day," she said with a smile before leaving behind a scowling Eddie in the empty classroom.

* * *

**After school**

Mai found Eddie waiting by the school's gate when the two o'clock bell rang.

"Why hello there," he said casually.

"Hi," Mai responded curtly.

"Look, I know I've been an ass, let me make it up to you. Do you like ice cream?" Eddie asked.

Mai and Eddie shared a table in the mall's food court as they ate their ice cream.

"How did you find me?" Eddie asked abruptly.

"Would you believe me if I said right place right time?" Mai asked earnestly.

"No, but I'll accept that answer for the moment," Eddie said, licking a drip off his cone.

Mai was about to take another bite of her ice cream when her cell phone rang, it was her mother.

"Hi mom? Calm down, what happened? Wait, who was attacked? Don't worry I'm coming home now," Mai said as she ended the call.

"Someone else was attacked," Mai said when she put her phone away.

"Who?" Eddie asked, his voice turned serious.

"Dunno, some one from school, which is why my mom called me freaking out," Mai said standing up.

"Thanks for the ice cream, but I gotta go," Mai said collecting her backpack.

"Hey Mai," Eddie called after her, "If you decide to find out who's going around attacking people, I'm in. I'm going to find that son of a bitch that knocked me for a loop and give him a quality kick in the balls," Eddie brandishing a crooked grin.

Mai smiled, "Sure thing." As she walked away a voice fluttered through her head.

_Thou art I and I am thou…..thou hast established a new bond….these bonds shall be thy eyes to see the truth...thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to summon a Persona of the Strength arcana…

* * *

_

**Evening**

"Mom I'm home," Mai announced taking her shoes off in the entry way. Her mother rushed into the room, relief visible on her face.

"Oh Mai I was so worried, first Eddie and now this," she said pointing to the television. She didn't need to tell me that she was worried. Her eyes were red and puffy and her usually kept hair was tangled from running her hand through it. There was a reporter at the park where there was another attack. The camera shifted from the swing set and followed the reporter as she walked towards the jungle gym.

Mai didn't even need to see who the victim was, her gut screamed his name.

"Garrett," Mai said softly, as she dropped to her knees and began to cry.


	6. A Walk in the Park

AN: This isn't the original chapter, it got erased when my computer crashed, so I became very unmotivated to continue the story, so I pretty much just put in all the important stuff. I hope it isn't too terrible

* * *

Chapter 6: A Walk in the Park.

Friday September 12, 2010

* * *

**Lunch time**

Mai sat on a desk in an empty class room, it was the same room she met Eddie in once before and she hoped she would meet him again. She tapped her fingers on the desk top as she waited for Eddie, she hoped he would come, but he didn't respond to her text message.

She wrote: "Meet me in the same place tomorrow during lunch, -Mai", but Eddie didn't respond and he didn't show. Lunch was almost over, and she still hadn't heard anything from him,

Mai began thinking of Garrett; he was in the hospital now. She visited him before school. According to his parents the doctors had no idea what the problem was, he was perfectly healthy, but he was still in a coma.

The door knob jiggled as Eddie stepped into the room, Mai's heart leapt.

"What's up?" he asked casually leaning against the door.

"Garrett was attacked, and I think it was the same person who attacked you," Mai said.

"Now why would you say that?" Eddie asked blowing hair out of his face. "I completely disappeared, whereas your friend is just in a coma, in this case A + B doesn't seem to equal C."

Mai jumped off the desk and straightened out her skirt. "Look, I have a plan. Just meet me in the playground at midnight. I have an idea." She reached for the door knob and Eddie stood in her way.

"Now why would I do that?" he asked, pressing his hand on the door.

"Because you're just as curious as I am about this whole mess," she said looking at him in the eye.

"Oh and bring a weapon," she added before leaving, almost in sync with the bell.

* * *

**Late Night**

Mai wrapped her arms around herself as the night wind nipped at her body. The park bench where she sat was frigid, but she sat there, waiting and watching. It was a cloudless night, and Mai could see the stars in the sky. Mai gripped a small hunting knife her parents had given her the summer she went hiking in the mountains.

"Hey there," Eddie said sitting down next to her on the bench, he too, was bundled in a winter coat.

"Pretty chilly eh?" he asked.

Mai nodded.

"So what's your plan?" he asked.

"We sit and watch," Mai responded.

They waited for fifteen minutes before Mai stood up.

"Come on, come on," she said impatiently waiting for something, anything to happen.

The wind blew and bit at her face, but nothing was happening.

Eddie stood up and approached Mai. "Hey, maybe nothings going to happen."

Mai took a deep breath, and as if on cue, she noticed that the jungle gym was shaking.

Mai and Eddie watched as the metal bars shifted, moved, and shaped themselves into a crude archway.

"The plan is to save Garrett," Mai said approaching the portal.


End file.
